“My Friend.”

From Wonderstruck.

New York City is a place filled with wonderful sights and sounds, but it can also be a terrifying challenge to navigate without the ability to hear; this is definitely the case for a young girl named Rose (Millicent Simmonds) and a boy named Ben (Oakes Fegley).  In 1927, Rose lives just outside the City, spending her time staring at the lights of the skyscrapers, filling a scrapbook with articles and picture of her favorite silent movie actress (Julianne Moore), and avoiding the father that wants her to prepare for a terrible new school.  Rose decides to head into New York to see her favorite film actress perform on Broadway, but things quickly stray from her plan upon her arrival in the City.  Meanwhile in 1977, as if Ben wasn’t having enough of a hard time after his mother (Michelle Williams) was killed in a car accident, a freak accident has left him deaf.  He could never get his mother to tell him about his father, so now Ben feels his only option is to look for some clue as to who his father could be; all he is able to find is a short note written on the back of a bookmark for a bookstore in NYC, so Ben runs away from home on a cross-country trip to find the mysterious man.  Even though their stories are separated by decades, both children share similarities on their adventures- including their attraction to the Museum of Natural History- beyond anything they could have ever imagined.

The second movie adaptation of a Brian Selznick novel is artful, captivating, and beautifully crafted.  The difference in styles between the two children’s tales allow for easy distinction of the storylines, but the development of the movie’s mysterious elements also allows for twists that make Selznick’s stories so endearing.  Simmonds and Fegley are brilliant in their roles, both fully carry the heart of their scenes without stealing the show from the other’s story.  While Wonderstruck is not a movie that can be casually watched, those that give the film their full attention will definitely see the movie for the wonder it is.

| Rated: PG | Running Time: 120 minutes |Genre: mystery/drama |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 0 of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0.5 of 10|Gore: 0 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|